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ADDRESS 



DELIVERED AT THE 



OPENING OF COURT 






NEW COURT HOUSE 



G-REENFIELD. MASS 



March 18, 1873, 



BY HON. WHITOG (JRISWOLD. 

It 




GREENFIELD, MASS. : 
1873. 



'> 



' T 



Greenfield, Mass., March 18, 1873. 
Hon. Wuiting Griswold, 
Dear Sir : 

At a meeting of the Frankliu Bar, the undersigned 
were appointed a Committee to request, for publication, a copy of your 
interesting Historical Address, this day delivered at the opening of Court 
in the New Court House. 

Trusting that you will comply with this request at an early day, 

We are respectfully yours, 

SAMUEL 0. LAMB, ") 

CHESTER C. CONANT, >■ Committee. 
GORHAM D. WILLIAMS, ) 



Greenfield, March 22, 1873. 
Gentlemen : 

I herewith furnish a copy of my Address, agreeably to your very 
polite and complimentary request. Although it is necessarily imperfect, 
etill I trust it may at least not only save others the labor of collecting 
many facts, which will thus be presented in a convenient and durable 
form, but also contribute something to increase the interest of the mem- 
bers of the Bar in each other, and strengthen the bonds of good fellow- 
ship in our profession. 

Very truly yours, 

WHITING GRISWOLD. 

To Messrs. 

Samuel 0. Lamb, 

Chester C. Conant, }■ Committee. 

GoKHAM D. Williams, 



ADDRESS. 



May it please your Honor : 

I am requested by the Committee of Arrangements 
to make some remarks appropriate to the dedication of this 
new Court House and public edifice. The few days allowed 
me for preparation is my only apology for any mistakes I 
may have made, and for the want of a better arrangement 
and more condensed statement of the thoughts which the 
time, the place, and the occasion suggest. 

The old County of Hampshire constituted the present 
counties of Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden. Frank- 
lin County was incorporated June 24, 1811. 

The petitioners for the new county were : Joshua Green, 
Roger Leavitt, Willam Taylor, Jonathan McGee, Robert 
L. McClellen, William Bull, Hezekiah Newcomb, Stephen 
Webster, Gilbert Stacy, Solomon Smead, Elijah Alvord, 2d, 
Epaphras Hoyt, Medad Alexander, Justus Russell, Joseph 
Metcalf, Clark Stone, Asaph White, Somes Root, Samuel 
Bardwell, Samuel Rice, Varney Pearce, Isaac Taylor, who, 
according to the statement set forth in the petition, were 
inhabitants of Buckland, Charlemont, Heath, Rowe, Cole- 
raine, Shelburne, Leyden, Bernardston, Gill, Greenfield, 
Deerfield, Northfield, Warwick, Orange, Wendell, Mon- 
tague, New Salem, and the Plantation of Erving's Grant. 

The aro-ument in favor of the division was, that the 



6 



county, being of great size, the expense of lawsuits, because 
of the distance of suitors and witnesses from the centre of 
the county, — more particularly from multiplicity of actions, 
and consequent delay of trials, — is oppressive. The peti- 
tion was presented to the Legislature January 28, 1811. 

Remonstrances against the division of Hampshire, and the 
incorporation of Franklin, were received from the towns of 
Northampton, Conway, Ilawley, "VVhately, Leverett, East- 
hampton, Worthington, Chester, Southampton, 'VYesthamp- 
ton, Goshen, "Williamsburg, Plainfield, Cummlngton, and 
Norwich. Also a communication from Westfield, which, 
however, favored a division of Hampshire into three coun- 
ties. The remonstrances were adopted in town meetings. 

The Report of the Committee of the Legislature, in favor 
of the division, was made June 18, 1811, and in the Sen- 
ate further consideration of the subject was referred to the 
next session ; but on the following day, the 19th, the order 
was reconsidered, and the report accepted, and concurred in 
by the House. 

This was the entering wedoje for a still further division ; 
and the present County of Hampden was incorporated Feb- 
ruary 25, 1812. The same arguments which operated in 
favor of setting off Franklin, applied with still greater force 
to Hampden. 

A remonstrance from the town of Amherst, presented to 
the Legislature January 16, 1812, is perhaps a fair, though 
somewhat colored, representation of the sentiments of all the 
towns which opposed this decimation and dividing up of the 
venerable and historic old County of Hampshire. 

This remonstrance asserts that Hampshire County, which 
could send sixty representatives and four senators, was none 



too large for convenience or respectability ; that the division 
-which has already taken place will be detrimental to the 
interests of both counties — will heavily increase the ex- 
penses, which w^ere large before — as the erection of public 
buildings, cfec. ; that if another division be made, the middle 
county would be small, but the southern one contemptibly 
smaller, than any in the State — even than those on its 
Islands — yet would have to sustain all the burdens of a large 
one ; that no good purpose can possibly be answered by 
divisions ; that the difference in expenses between large and 
small counties is not so great as the difference of their terri- 
tories ; and, in conclusion, asked that Franklin be again 
restored to Hampshire, before expenses are incurred. 

But all opposition was fruitless ; and Hampden County, 
as I have said, was incorporated February 25, 1812. And 
this second recusant child of Old Hampshire, which was to 
be such a puny, contemptible thing, within sixty years of its 
birth had twice the population, and more than once and a 
half the valuation of all that was left of its most respecta- 
ble and venerable parent. And Northampton, the old shire 
of the county, where the "river gods" have so long dwelt, 
which has furnished one — the sixth Governor under the con- 
stitution — and four of our most distinguished United States 
Senators, whose united terms of office covered a period of 
twenty years, — Northampton, so long the great centre of the 
culture, taste and social refinement, of the legal wealth and 
political power of Western ^Massachusetts, was, in one short 
year, shorn of much of her ancient prestige, power and 
glory. 

By the act establishing our county, Greenfield was made 
the shire town. On this question of the shire town, Court 



8 



House, and other public buildings, there was a severe strug- 
gle between Greenfield and Cheapside, both before and after 
the passage of the act establishing the county. Nearly all 
the towns in the county took an active part in this contest ; 
but Deerfield and Greenfield were the most prominent com- 
batants. And Eichard E. Newcomb, Elijah Alvord, and 
George Grennell of Greenfield ; and Epaphras Hoyt, Eufus 
Saxton, and Pliny Arms of Deerfield, were the prime movers 
and master spirits of the two contending forces. A conven- 
tion was held in Greenfield in November, 1811, with a 
view to change the Act, and remove the shire from Green- 
field to Cheapside, before the Court House and jail should 
be built. A large crowd and great excitement attended 
its deliberations, evezy town in the county but two being 
represented. 

No question of equal importance, taking such a deep hold 
of the public feeling, or where the animosity engendered 
rankled so long, ever agitated our people. Horse flesh was 
put in requisition, and the site of the proposed shire swarmed 
with excited delegates and interested outsiders, like a hive of 
bees in June, reminding one (if tradition has not over- 
wrought this piece of local history) of the famous lines of 
Cowper, in the race of John Gilpin : 

" Smack went the whip, round went llie Avheels, 

Were never folk so glad ; 
The stones did rattle underneath, 

As if Cheapside were mad." 

A petition to annex the Northern tier of towns in Hamp- 
shire to Franklin County w^as first adopted by the conven- 
tion, and while lying on the table for signatures of the 



9 



delegates — three or four having signed it — it suddenly and 
mysteriously disappeared, and was never afterwards found. 
But the record of this alleged fraudulent abstraction, with all 
the reasons for removal to Cheapside, were presented to the 
Legislature. So earnest and important was this controversy 
relative to the location of the county seat and the first 
Court House, and so characteristic of the men of that day, 
at the risk of taking a few moments' space, I will state the 
substance of the most prominent considerations which en- 
tered into the discussion, and which were urged upon the 
attention of the Legislature, as I find them in documents 
prepared and used at that time for that purpose. But in 
thus sketching the early history of our first Court House, I 
use only such materials as are public property, to wit, the 
records and files of the legislature and our courts, corrobo- 
rated by tradition — not for the purpose of reopening wounds 
long since healed, but to rescue from oblivion one of the 
most curious and interesting portions of our local history. 

In behalf of Cheapside, it was claimed that it was the terri- 
torial and traveling centre of the county ; that the towns east 
of the Connecticut, and south of the Deerfield rivers, could 
save toll by leaving their horses and carriages, and paying 
only as foot passengers ; that the water at Cheapside was ex- 
cellent, while that at Greenfield was very bad and unwhole- 
some ; that its vicinity to the villages of Greenfield and 
Deerfield would ever prevent the exorbitant demands of 
taverns and boarding houses ; that all kinds of common 
labor and all kinds of materials were much cheaper ; that it 
was in the midst of excellent land for pasture, surrounded 
with an abundance of the best wood, and contiguous to the 
best hay in the county, from which Greenfield received large 



10 



quantities ; that it was the head of boat navigation for this 
part of the country, and even the lower part of Vermont ; 
that it was growing in commercial importance, and was the 
great outlet for the produce of the farmer and the deposit 
from which a great part of the importations of the country 
were received ; that it was pleasantly situated on the mar- 
gin of the Deerfield river, and overlooked the adjoining 
meadows ; that the south and east portions of the county 
would have to pass through Cheapside to get to Greenfield ; 
that two responsible gentlemen stand ready to build two 
tavern houses the coming season, and that every desirable ac- 
commodation for courts will soon be furnished, and at much 
cheaper rate than in Greenfield, the price of land being only 
as ten to one hundred ; that Cheapside subscriptions in cash, 
land and materials, exceed those of Greenfield ; that a large 
majority of the towns, the people and the valuation of the 
county, favor the change ; that it is in the vicinity of a fine 
quarry of stone, a running brook, and excellent materials 
for making brick ; that it is nearer Erving's Gore, from 
which most of the lumber must come for the new buildings ; 
that wood was 67 cents per cord, and team-work 25 per 
cent, cheaper than in Greenfield, and the board of laborers 
50 cents a week cheaper; and, finally, that a gentleman of 
undoubted responsibility had offered, in writing, for $1900 
of the Cheapside subscription, to build a Court House as 
large as the one at Northampton, and a fire-proof clerk's 
office, and turn over the balance of the subscription to help 
build the jail. 

On the part of Greenfield it was claimed : First, to be the 
territorial centre. Second, the traveling centre of the 
county. Third, that there were few inhabitants at Cheap- 



11 



side, — being only eeveu houses and five of these very small, 
and the other two unsuitable for boarders. Fourth, very 
desirable accommodations at Greenfield : twenty well-built, 
commodious dwelling-houses, and the most considerable place 
of trade in the county. Fifth, that Greenfield has spent 
large sums in the construction of roads, bridges and turn- 
pikes, to accommodate the public ; that she built most of the 
Deerfield river bridge at Cheapside, one-half of the Con- 
necticut river bridge at Montague, and one-eifjhth of the 
great turnpike road to Leominster, which was projected in 
Greenfield, and cost $60,000. 

I will only add, as a specimen of the various certificates 
and affidavits sent to the Legislature to influence its decision, 
the following : 

I hereby certify that I have heard, within four years from date, 
Col. Richard E. Newcomb once, and I believe several times, de- 
clare that there was more business done in Cheapside in one day, 
than there was in Greenfield in a week, or words to that effect. 

SAMUEL E. FIELD. 

Cheapside, Town of Deerfield, 10th January, 1812. 

# 

But the Legislature, and very wisely, as we must all now 
admit, refused to move the county seat and public buildings 
from Greenfield, and so the matter ended. But not so the 
rivalry, feuds and animosities of the chief parties to this bitter 
controversy. And Cheapside, for sixty years or more, has 
been the battle-ground of these contending factions ; nor in 
this long struggle has victory always perched on the side of 
Greenfield. 

To be sure the first battle — the most sanguine of all — was 
a " Bull Run" to Cheapside and Deerfield. But, " fore- 



12 



warned, forearmed" ; and that wa? the last "Wooden Horse" 
of the cunning Greeks which ever successfully disgorged its 
armed legions upon this sacred and more than Trojan ground 
of old DeeriSeld. 

Once, and again, and again, Greenfield having secured the 
county seat and public buildings, has tried to take Cheap- 
side itself. But all these efforts have ended in ignominious 
defeat 5 and the subtle lawyers and sharp merchants of 
Greenfield, from 1811 to the present day, have been no 
match for the sturdy farmers of old Deerfield, led in these 
later conflicts by the Abercrombies, the Temples, and the 
Sheldons of Cheapside, all "to the manor born," who have 
stood up like giants against the frequent incursions of these 
Northern foes. 

And there Cheapside remains, every rod of her territory 
signalized with memorials of victory or defeat, in conflicts 
which, if less bloody, have been quite as important in some 
of their results as the more sanguinary Indian wars, which 
fill so many of the early pages of Deerfield history. 

Cheapside ! The waters of the Connecticut and Deerfield 
still lave her fee1?s while thirty trains of railroad cars make 
daily music around her head. But no spacious hotels, no 
blocks of stores, no public edifices or county buildings, 
adorn the margin of those classic streams, or overlook the 
far-stretching panorama of meadow, and mountain, and river. 
No wide and shaded streets, lined with costly mansions, or 
beautiful homes of equal taste but less pretension, — the 
cheerful abodes of culture and refinement, — fulfill the dreams 
of the early agitators of making Cheapside what Greenfield 
is to-day. But such is ftite, or, as Milton has it, " So God 
ordains." 



13 



" Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 

The saddest are these : it might have been." 

Cheapside and " Montague City," so called, are memora- 
ble local instances of disappointed ambition. But time, at 
last, makes one a part and parcel of a city — which she 
meant to be herself, and which, within the life of some who 
now hear me, may number a hundred thousand people, 
whilst Cheapside, in the future, as in the past, will draw its 
life and nourishment, its chief value and growth from the 
fact that the sagacity and enterprise of her thrifty, prosperous 
people, cannot be hemmed in by town lines, and the further 
fact of her proximity to one of the most thrifty, enterpris- 
ing, beautiful and healthy towns in New England — the shire 
town of Franklin County. 

After the incorporation of the comity, in 1811, and 
before the Court House was completed, the courts were held 
in the hall of the old Willard tavern, situated on the corner 
of Main and Federal streets, on the ground now occupied by 
Hovey's block and the Franklin County National Bank. 
This was built by Beriah Willard, father of David Willard, 
and was a rival of the old Munn tavern, which was on the 
opposite corner, where the Mansion house now stands. 
The first session of the court — the old Common Pleas — was 
held on the second Monday, the 9th day of March, 1812, 
Edward Bangs, Justice ; and Jonathan Leavitt of this town, 
Associate Justice, presided. Andrew Adams of Greenfield, 
father of our fellow-citizen, Peleg Adams, was foreman of 
the traverse jury, and Elisha Alexander of Northfield, was 
foreman of the grand jury. The first action entered in the 
court, and placed on the records, was that of Jerome Rip- 
ley of Greenfield, against Ransom Hinman of Lee: An 



14 

action on the case. Eichard E. Newcomb, Esquire, ap- 
peared for the plaintiff. Defendant was defaulted, and judg- 
ment was rendered for $29.11 damages and $7.71 costs of 
suit, — perhaps a fair average of the amounts involved and 
the importance of the cases, from that day to this. 

At the first term for this county, of the Old Court of 
Sessions, held on the first Tuesday of March, 1812, — 
Present : Job Goodale, Chief Justice ; Medad Alexander, 
Ebenezer Arms, Joshua Green and Caleb Hubbard, Es- 
quires, Associate Justices, — Eliel Gilbert of Greenfield, 
John Arms of Conway, Ezekiel Webster of Xorthfield, 
Charles E. Robertson of New Salem, John White of 
Whately, Hezekiah Newcomb of Leyden, and Roger Leav- 
itt of Heath, were appointed a committee to exhibit a plan 
for a Court House, which was probably completed in 1813. 
Greenfield was authorized, by the court of sessions, to hold 
their town-meetings in it forever, by paying $500 per 
year, and subsequently, in 1814, the Protestant Episcopal 
society in Greenfield were permitted, by the court of ses- 
sions, to meet in the court room while building their church, 
being responsible for any damages to the county. 

This building, the first Court House, is still standing, and 
is now occupied, on the lower floor, by Lewis Merriam, 
Esquire, for the Post Office, and on the upper floor by S. S. 
Eastman & Co., for their printing establishment. It was a 
fine structure for its day, and served the purpose of court 
rooms and public offices very well. It was convenient in its 
arrangements, was pleasantly situated, and had an air of 
cheerfulness within and without. 

Of course, my own impressions of this Court House were 
deepened by the fact that it was there I first heard those Nes- 



15 



tors of the bar of this valley, Bates, Dewey, Huntington, 
Billings, Ashraun, Newcomb, Wells, Alvord and Brooks, 
among the dead, and Forbes, Grennell, Aiken, Davis and 
Wm. G. Bates, among the living, contend for the mastery, 
and measure weapons in many a hard fought contest, involv- 
ing the life, liberty, reputation, or property of a fellow-citi- 
zen, — many of them men not inferior in ability to the Stod- 
dards, the Strongs, the Mills, the Ashmuns, the Blisses, the 
Dwights and Dickinsons of a still earlier day. 

It was there, too, that I first learned to respect the high 
character of the Massachusetts Judiciary, by attending courts 
presided over by such learned and upright judges as Putnam, 
Wilde, Shaw, Metcalf, Dewey and Hubbard, of the Supreme 
Bench, and W^illiams, Cummins, Mellen, Ward, Allen, 
Washburn, and their colleagues, on the old Common Pleas 
bench. 

I can only speak of a few of the more prominent lawyers, 
who belong wholly or in part to this first period of our ju- 
dicial history, who were members of this bar, and practiced 
in our first Court House. 

William Coleman was the first — a native of Boston ; 
studied law with Judo-e Paine of Worcester — a man of rare 
genius ; went to New York, was the law partner of Aaron 
Burr and the intimate friend of Alexander Hamilton. He 
was also for a time clerk of the city court and reporter of 
its decisons. 

Jonathan Leavitt, son of Rev. Jonathan Leavitt, of 
Heath, Mass., graduated at Yale College in 1786, studied 
law at New Haven and settled here about 1790. He was 
Senator, Judge of Probate from 1814 to 1821, and also 
Judire of the Court of Common Pleas. He married the 



16 

daughter of President Stiles, of Yale College. He built the 
elegant mansion still standing on Main street, just east of 
the Mansion house, now owned and occupied by his only 
surviving child, Miss Mary Leavitt, and the family of Geo. 
H. Hovey. In this mansion Judge Leavitt lived until his 
death, in 1830, at the age of sixty-six. He was a close 
student, a good lawyer, and before his appointment to the 
bench, had a very large and lucrative practice. His home 
was long the centre of the culture, taste, and social refine- 
ment of the place, where judges, lawyers, and the elite of 
the town were often and most sumptuously entertained. 

Richard E. Newcomb graduated at Dartmouth in 
1793 ; studied law with Wm. Coleman ; was, admitted to the 
bar in 1796. He was Representative to the General Court, 
County Attorney, and Judge of Probate. He was an able 
lawyer, when in his prime, and a powerful advocate, and had 
an extensive practice. He was a gentleman of the old 
school, of vigorous constitution and strong will, courageous 
and firm, but gentlemanly and courteous in all his intercourse 
with society. His office was the resort of most of the law 
students of that early day in fitting for the profession. He 
was present at the informal dedication of our last Court 
House, in 1849, and although in feeble health, spoke at 
some length with much feeling and power. His erect and 
dignified form and stately walk was a familiar and welcome 
sight in our streets, until near the close of his long and 
active life. He died in 1849, at the age of seventy-eight. 

Horatio G. Newcomb studied law with John Barrett of 
Korthfield, and his brother, Judge Newcomb of this town. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1813. He practiced law at 
Winchendon and Xorthfield, before he settled in Greenfield. 



17 

He received the honorary degree of A. M. from Williams 
College. He was a member of the Legislature, and master 
in chancery under the insolvent law of 1838. He was em- 
ployed much in the settlement of estates, and in probate 
business ; was a good office lawyer and counsellor, and 
always advised to that course which was for the interest of 
his client, not for his own. He took a deep interest in all 
local and public questions. He was kind and sympathizing; 
and if he was not one of the greatest, he was what is of 
much more value, one of the best of men. He died in 
1857, at the age of seventy-one. 

Samuel C. Allen graduated at Dartmouth in 1794 ; 
settled in the ministry at Northfield in 1795. He soon after 
relinquished that profession, and studied law with John Bar- 
rett of Northfield; was admitted to the bar about 1800, 
and settled in New Salem. He came to Greenfield about 
1822, but finally returned to Northfield, where he estab- 
lished himself in a retired, beautiful spot on the banks of the 
Connecticut river. Here he pursued agriculture, practiced 
law, prosecuted his political and literary studies, and reared 
a family of children. Three of his sons were eminent law- 
yers ; two of them members of Congress from Maine, and 
one of these, Elisha H. Allen, is the present chancellor and 
chief justice of the Sandwich Islands ; and another son, the 
late Samuel C. Allen, so long the Representative from North- 
field to the Legislature, the farmer statesman, the great ad- 
vocate of temperance, and the Postmaster of East Boston. 
Mr. Allen, the father, was State Senator, County Attorney, 
and member of Congress from this district from 1816 to 
1828. He was an accomplished scholar, and a statesman of 
high national reputation. 



18 

Elijah Alvord Btudied law with Judge Newcomb ; was 
admitted to the bar in 1802. He received the honorary 
degree of A. M. from Dartmouth and Williams Colleges. 
He was Representative to the General Court, a member of 
the Constitutional Convention of 1820, Register of Probate, 
and clerk of the courts, — a most capable, courteous and 
faithful public officer. Mr. Alvord, Judges Leavitt and 
Newcomb, and George Grennell, exercised a wide influence 
on all the questions connected with the establishment of our 
county, and the location of the county seat and public 
buildings. 

RoDOLPHUs Dickinson was the son of Col. T. W. Dick- 
inson of Deerfield ; graduated at Yale College in 1805; 
studied law at Northampton with John Taylor, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1808 ; practiced at Springfield till 1811 ; 
was clerk of our courts from 1811 to 1819, when he took 
orders in the Episcopal church, settled in South Carolina, 
and many of the most distinguished men of that State were, 
in different places where he preached, among his parish- 
ioners — John C. Calhoun being one of the number. He 
was a great student, and published several important works : 
among them a translation of the New Testament. Early in 
life he was deistical in his views ; but, by long and close 
study of the Scriptures, became a deep and thorough relig- 
ionist of the evangelical school. In politics, he was a dem- 
ocrat of the Jeffersonian school, and, after his return to 
Deerfield from the South, took a leading part in the politics 
of Western Massachusetts, and at one time came near an 
election to Congress from this district. The closing years of 
his life were at times clouded with mental aberation. His 



19 



memory will ever be cherished as that of a scholar, states- 
man, and christian. 

Ephraim Williams, of Deerfield, was one of the most 
remarkable men of that day. He was usually called Bob 
Williams ; but why, I am unable to say, except that this 
was an ancient name or title among his ancestors. He was 
born in Deerfield, in 1760 ; studied law with his uncle, that 
eminent lawyer. Judge Sedgwick of Stockbridge, and prac- 
ticed law there, as his partner, about twenty years ; and, by 
an extensive and lucrative practice, acquired an independence 
as to property. He returned to Deerfield in 1803, where he 
lived until his death, in 1835. He was the nephew of, and 
was named for, Col. Ephraim Williams, the founder of 
W^illiams College, and was the father of the present Bishop 
Williams of Connecticut, and the uncle of the late Charles, 
Ralph, Horace, and Ephraim Williams, — men prominent in 
public affairs in Deerfield during the last fifty years. 

While in practice in Berkshire County, he had a misun- 
derstanding on one occasion with the presiding judge, who 
charged him with stating what was incorrect, and ordered 
him to sit down. But Mr. Williams, indignant at having 
his veracity called in question, replied that he luould not sit 
down, but would leave the bar, and never enter it again ; 
which he did, and ever after faithfully kept his promise. He 
was the reporter of the first volume of the Massachusetts 
Reports. He was frequently elected to both branches of the 
Legislature, and was also member of the Governor's Coun- 
cil. He was often consulted by the judges and others on 
important legal questions ; and Chief Justice Parsons used 
all his influence, but without success, to persuade him to 



20 

return to the practice of his profession, and to the bar; but 
he was inflexible. - 

Justin W. Claek was a member of this bar, and settled 
in Whately, where he practiced from 1825 to 1827 inclu- 
sive. He then went to Hatfield, and was for many years 
the law partner of Israel Billings. He was an eminent 
lawyer, and the early pages of our Keports are often en- 
riched with his clear, close and elaborate law briefs and 
arguments. The firm of Billings & Clark had great 
strength, and an extensive law practice. 

George Geennell, now in his eighty-seventh year, 
whose presence to-day adds so much to the interest and 
character of this occasion, graduated at Dartmouth in 1808, 
with distinguished honor ; studied law with Judge New- 
comb ; was admitted to the bar in 1811 ; was the law part- 
ner at different times of Judge Newcomb, Almon Brainard, 
David Aiken, and his son James S. Grennell. He was 
eight years, from 1820, county attorney ; was elected to 
Congress in 1828 — was a member ten years ; was after- 
wards clerk of the courts, and judge of probate ; was 
Presidential elector in 1840. Add to this an extensive law 
practice during a large portion of this period, together with 
extensive literary research and acquisitions, and we have 
before us a rare life, filled with duty and crowned with 
honor. May the same kind Providence which has watched 
over and prospered our brother so many years, long spare 
him to the fiimily, the church, to society, and to the State. 

Franklin Ripley was the son of Jerome Ripley of 
Greenfield. He graduated at Dartmouth in 1809 ; studied 
law at Cooperstown, N. Y., and at Northfield with John 
Barrett; was admitted to the bar in 1812. He practiced 



21 



law at Northfield ; was Judge of Probate, and cashier and 
principal manager of the old Greenfield, now First National 
Bank of Greenfield till his death, in 1860, at the age of 
seventy-one years. He was a man of the strictest integrity, 
of great industry, and exerted a wide and salutary influence 
in business, in politics, and in the church. 

Daniel Wells, son of Col. Daniel Wells of Greenfield, 
graduated at Dartmouth in 1810; studied law with Elijah 
Alvord ; was admitted to the bar in 1813. He was State 
senator, district attorney for the four western counties, 
and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas from 1844 
to the time of his death, in 1854. He was a most conscien- 
tious and pure-minded man ; the kindest of husbands and 
fathers ; of deep moral convictions and enlarged public spirit ; 
progressive in all his ideas ; an indefatigable student, and 
able lawyer and advocate ; and for thirty years held the 
leading sway at the Franklin bar. The most important 
trial, probably, in which he was ever engaged, was that of 
the Commonwealth vs. William Wyman, President of the 
Phoenix Bank of Charlestown, indicted for embezzlement. 
Mr. Wells was associated with Mr. Huntington, District 
Attorney for Middlesex County, for the Government. This 
was in 1843, shortly before his appointment to the bench, 
when he was in the full maturity of his powers and fame as 
a lawyer ; and both in the trial and argument Mr. Wells 
proved himself equal, if not an overmatch, for those great 
lawyers, Webster and Dexter, who conducted the defence. 

James C. Alvord, son of Elijah Alvord, graduated at 
Dartmouth in 1827 ; studied law with his uncle, Daniel 
Wells, and at the Law School at New Haven ; was admit- 
ted to the bar in 1830 ; was Representative to the Legis- 



22 

lature ; Senator ; one of the commissioners to codify the 
criminal law of Massachusetts ; and was the author of the 
article on homicide and assault, one of the ablest in the 
report of the commission. He was elected to Congress in 
1838, but never took his seat, in consequence of his death 
in 1839. He gave early promise of great eminence in his 
profession, and in public life. What others worked long to 
achieve, he seemed to grasp by intuition. Law was the idol 
of his love — the field of his greatest ambition. It was the 
shrine at which he worshiped. He loved it as a science ; he 
loved its practice ; and to it he devoted his days and nights 
without cessation. As a lawyer and advocate, at the time 
of his death, though but thirty-one years old, he had few 
equals, and no superior at this or any other bar. Yet he 
was as simple, playful and trustful as a child ; fond of every 
honorable and manly sport and social companionship, and 
the centre of a large circle of the most refined and cultivated 
society. 

In politics, while nominally a whig, he was at heart, and 
throughout, an abolitionist. Early in life he threw the 
weight of his gifted intellect and manly soul into the scale of 
freedom, and, had his life been spared, who can doubt that 
long ago he would have occupied a seat in the United States 
Senate — if not the equal, certainly the co-laborer, and 
scarcely the inferior of our great and incorruptible Senator, 
Charles Sumner, in the God-appointed work of the emanci- 
pation of a long abused and down trodden race. 

Benjamin E. Curtis, of Boston, studied law one year 
at the Law School in Cambridije ; then ei^jhteen months in 
the office of Wells & Alvord at Greenfield ; then six 
months at Cambridge Law School. He was one year a 



23 



member of tins bar, and practiced law in Xorthfield. He 
gave promise, I am told, even then, in the conduct of justice 
trials, of that great eminence which he has since achieved at 
the Suffolk bar, and on the Supreme Bench of the United 
States, as one of the best judicial minds of the country. 

I take the liberty of incorporating into this address the 
following extract from a letter of Mr. Curtis, in reply to a 
note from me, making inquiries as to his recollections of the 
few years spent in this county in the study and practice of 
the law, as it will be of general interest to our people. 
Speaking of Wells & Alvord, with whom he studied law, he 
says : 

" I then, and ever since, have considered Mr. Wells to have 
been a sound and learned lawyer, and a pure and excellent man. 
His associate, Mr. Alvord, was a man of genius and of great 
strength of character, and to his companionship in my studies I 
owed a great deal. We were friends and intimate companions, 
and our common interest in our studies was very helpful to me. 
When I lived in your county, there was in nearly every town at 
least, one lawyer, who, in point of education and influence, 
ranked with the best in the town, and their influence was gener- 
ally good. They did not stir up strife, and they did their duty as 
administrators of the law with general fidelity. The towns were 
better for their presence. Of course, there were exceptions. 
But those were the general rules as I knew them forty years ago. 
I suppose the village lawyer has now disappeared. Not a little 
that was useful has gone with them." 

John Barrett, John Nevers, and William G. 
WoODARD were also long, able, and successful practitioners 
in Northfield. Before the establishment of the new county, 
Northfield seems to have been quite as much or more than 
Greenfield the center of the legal talent of our present 
county, and most of the young men preparing for the pro- 



24 

fession resorted to Northfield, and the office of John Barrett, 
to prosecute their studies. John Nevers left the practice in 
1831, to take the office of sheriff. William G. Woodard 
subsequently moved to Iowa, and became one of the Su- 
preme Judges of that State. 

Ex-Gov. Emory Washburn studied law eighteen months 
with Bradford Sumner, then of Leicester, afterwards of 
Boston ; one year at the Harvard Law School, and six 
months with Charles A. Dewey, then of Williamstown, 
afterwards Judge of the Supreme Judicial Court. He was 
admitted to the bar in Berkshire, March 1, 1821, and 
March 3, 1821, opened a law office in Charlemont, in this 
county, where he remained till September 18, 1821, when 
he removed to Leicester, his native place, to administer to 
the necessities of an aged and infirm mother, then left alone. 
He subsequently removed to Worcester, where he long con- 
stituted one of the ablest leaders of that very able bar. He 
was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1844 to 
1847 ; was Governor one year, 1854, and is now the learned 
writer and author of works upon the most abstruse branch of 
law, real property, and Law Lecturer and Professor in the 
Law Department of Harvard University. His life has been 
one of unceasing labor and great usefulness. Few men have 
done as much as he to give dignity, character and impor- 
tance to the legal profession ; none more to prove how much 
superior is principle to policy, not only in the legal profession 
but in politics and all the relations of business. When, in 
after years, the roll of Massachusetts' most illustrious names 
shall be called, few will show a purer, higher, and more use- 
ful record than that of Emory Washburn. 

Elijah Paine, of Ashfield; Sylvester Maxwell and 



25 

Joseph P. Allen, of Charlemont ; Pliny Arms, Jona- 
than A. Saxton, Aaron Arms, and Elijah Williams, 
of Deerfield ; Jonathan Hartwell, of Montague ; John 
Drury and Isaac B. Barber, of Coleraine ; Horace W. 
Taft and Henry Barnard, of Sunderland ; William Bil- 
lings, of Conway ; Benjamin Brainard, of Gill ; and 
Stephen Emery, of Orange, — prudent and useful counsel- 
lors in their several localities, and most of them at different 
periods of life elected to important public offices, were long 
welcome and familiar faces in the old Court House. 

It was in this old Court House that Epaphras Hoyt and 
John Nevers, the sheriffs of the county from 1814 to 
1847, men of iron will and Roman courage, so long pre- 
sided over the courts with all the courtesy, ease and dignity 
of the olden school. 

It was there, too, that Thomas Rockwood, the polite 
attendant upon Providence, the court, and the lawyers, so 
long won the approval of the bench and the bar, by uniting 
the gentleman with the subordinate but very useful office of 
messenger. 

Nor must I pass unnoticed Col. David Wright, of 
Deerfield, the old crier of the old Court House, of the old 
school. It is no disparagement to the present temporary, 
shifting occupants of this office, to say that Col. Wright, 
awake or asleep, was the equal, if not superior, of them all. 
Although there is the highest 'profane authority for saying 
that on one occasion, when suddenly roused from a profound 
sleep, which he was enjoying in the crier's desk, to adjourn 
the court, he shocked the judge, the jurors, the witnesses, 
spectators, and even the lawyers, so far as such language 
can shock their sensibilities, by adding, either by mistake or 



26 

intentionally, to the words, " God save the Commonwealth," 
an oath which it would be improper for me to repeat in this 
presence. But the Legislature which, like the British Par- 
liament, is omnipotent, in one of its spasms of reform, arose 
in its might and majesty and swept this little office of crier 
of the courts from the face of the earth, so far as Massachu- 
setts was concerned, and with it went Col. David Wright, 
the crier of this court. But all the members of this bar 
felt the keenest regret to part company with one who so long 
contributed so much pleasantry and cheer to the sessions of 
our courts, and had so often and so devoutly called upon 
God to " save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." 

And there, too, was Gen. Thomas Gilbert, the prede- 
cessor of David Wright, in the office of crier, and sub- 
sequently an assistant in the clerk's office. And also, con- 
spicuous among a long list of deputy sheriffs, of the old 
regime, were Calvin L. Munn of Greenfield, Hatsel 
Purple of Bernardston, Isaac Abercrombie of Deer- 
field, Col. Noah Wells of Rowe, Daniel Donilson of 
Coleraine, Anson Bement of Ashfield, David N. Carpen- 
ter of Greenfield, Samuel Potter of Charlemont, and 
last, but by no means the least, Benjamin Stotit Wells 
of Montague, father of the present efficient and popular 
sheriff of the county, all inseparable concomitants and 
attaches of the old Court House. 

Nor can we ever forget Hooker Leavitt, so long the 
faithful register of deeds and county treasurer, almost a 
fixture in that old building, whose familiar face, in his place 
of business and his daily walks, always greeted us with a 
smile. I can see him now, in his office, on the street, in his 
house, and garden on Federal street, in his pew at church, 



27 

attentive and reverent ; in the prayer-meeting, devout and 
humble ; in the social circle, cheerful and happy, and at last 
mourning and weeping himself into the grave over severe, 
painful, domestic afflictions. 

And there, too, as a matter of course, was the old Court 
House clique, for some mysterious reason, the almost 
invariable concomitant of all court houses, where political 
slates are made, often, perhaps not often enough, to be 
smashed by the sovereign people. 

But while many of the older members of the bar and 
officers of the court, and much that was peculiar to the 
olden times had passed away, the Court House itself was 
deemed insufficient for the public wants. Progress, growth, 
and time's changes demanded a kroner and more commodious 
building and public rooms. And our second Court House 
was erected in 1848, by Thomas Nims, Joseph Stevens, and 
Ebenezer Maynard, then county commissioners. These 
men were among the ablest and most conscientious of all 
the boards who have held that important office, and they 
unquestionably did all which they thought the finances of the 
county and judgment of the people would sanction. And 
for twenty-five years that structure served the county and the 
courts passably well. But after all, in the light of facts as 
they now appear, it was poor economy. A larger, more safe 
and convenient edifice, with all the modern appliances and 
improvements, like the one we are met to dedicate, would 
have been a wiser investment in the end. 

But our county was after the division, and is still, the 
smallest in the State in population and valuation, except 
Dukes and Nantucket — those little islands out in the sea. 
And " slow, but sure," has ever been the niiotto of Franklin 



28 

County. Decimated in our representation, cut off from 
railroad communication, far removed from the great centres 
of influence, power, and trade, for half a century we 
struggled against heavy odds, scarcely holding our owd. 
"We lived on the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, and in our 
humility rejoiced in the sobriquet of " Little Franklin." 
But during all this time we held in our hand the sling of 
David, for our faith was like a grain of mustard- seed, 
which, if it could not remove, would tunnel mountains. 

But our day at last has come. The "river gods" are mov- 
ing North, and now we are masters of the situation, hold- 
ing, as we do, the great stragetic point — the key not merely 
to the great channel of commerce, business and trade, but to 
the political arch of the State. We make and unmake 
governors, senators, judges, and members of congress, and 
cause all who desire public favor to fall down and worship 
our Dagon, the '^ Great Bore"; and if they would feed at 
the public crib, to pass through the Hoosac Tunnel, as the 
shortest, safest, and only road to the object of their ambition. 

As the first Court House represented for the most part a 
generation of the olden school, the second, to a great extent, 
represented a new generation of men. 

I know I shall be pardoned if I make a brief reference to 
some of the more prominent characters of our bar, who best 
illustrate this second period of our judicial history, even at 
the risk of shocking the modesty of a few who constitute a 
portion of my audience. 

David Aiken graduated at Dartmouth in 1830 ; studied 
law with Wells & Alvord ; was admitted to the bar in 1833 ; 
was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas bench from 1856 
to 1859. After the promotion of Judge Wells in 1844, to 



29 



the present day, with the exception of the period he was on 
the bench, he has been the acknowledged leader of our bar. 
He practices law, as he says, more from necessity than the 
love of it ; goes at once to the nub of his case ; wastes no 
strength on immaterial issues ; prefers a good horse to a law 
library ; sifts witnesses, and sways judges and jurors without 
remorse, or any mercy for his timid and prostrate brothers 
of the profession. He has been the law partner of Henry 
Chapman, George Grennell, Davis & Allen, Chester C. 
Conant, and W. S. B. Hopkins ; also Avith Chas. E. Forbes 
of Northampton. And what little law your speaker ever 
knew, he acquired of Judge Aiken wdiile a student in the 
office of Grennell & Aiken. 

Almon Braixard graduated at Hamilton College, N. Y., 
in 1826, and was afterwards one year in Capt. Partridge's 
military school at Middletown, Conn. He studied law with 
George Grennell ; was admitted to the bar in 1829 ; was 
for fourteen years register of deeds and county treasurer, 
and for a long period secretary of the Franklin County 
Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He was senator in 1856, 
and is now one of the trial justices of the county. After 
his admission to the bar, by industry, frugality and integ- 
rity, he soon won his way not only to the confidence of the 
people of the county but to a very extensive and lucrative 
practice ; and at one time, to what few lawyers achieve, an 
ample fortune. 

The amount of labor he has performed during the forty- 
four years of his practice, clerical and otherwise, in his 
office, and in court, as register of deeds, county treasurer, 
and secretary of the Franklin County Mutual Fire Insurance 
Company, would appal any lawyer of only average industry. 



30 

And though past the meridian of life, he still works in his 
profession, by day and by night, as constant as ever. And 
when at last he goes, as go we all must, I feel sure it will 
be, like Moses on Mount Kebo, with his armor on, his eye 
not dim, nor his natural force abated. 

George T. Davis graduated at Harvard College in 
1829 ; studied law with AVells & Alvord, and at Cambridge ; 
was admitted to the bar in 1832. He was twice senator 
from this county, once a member of our House of Repre- 
sentatives, and also a member of Congress from the old 
Connecticut River District. In many respects, he is the 
most striking figure in this second period. He was a keen, 
discriminating, able lawyer ; a most charming conversation- 
alist and speaker ; the brightest of men, bristling with wit, 
fun and raillery ; most skillful in the examination of wit- 
nesses, and extracting amusement from the dryest case. He 
did more than all others at law and nisi ^^ri'ws terms to 
incorporate into the cold and rigid logic and routine of 
courts and trials something of the cheerful, jolly, softer, 
better side of human nature ; and if he did not win verdicts 
from the hands, he drove dyspepsia from the bodies of the 
judges, jurors and lawyers, by the frequent convulsions of 
laughter which followed his inimitable wit and repartee. He 
is now living in elegant ease in Portland, Maine. No one 
ever left us who is so much missed by the bench, the bar, 
in places of business, in literary clubs, and the social circle. 

D. W. Alvord graduated at Union College in 1838 ; 
studied law with Wells, Alvord & Davis ; was admitted to 
the bar in 1841 ; was senator, member of the constitutional 
convention of 1853, district attorney, and collector of 
internal revenue for this district. He was brought up under 



31 

the teachings of his father, Elijah Alvord ; his uncle, Daniel 
Wells ; his brother, James C. Alvord ; and George T. 
Davis — all able lawyers, and of wide general culture. He 
had a fine legal mind, and had he devoted himself exclusively 
to his profession, he would have made one of the ablest law- 
yers in the State. He died in Virginia, in 1871, at the age 
of fifty-four. 

Charles Allen graduated at Cambridge in 1847 ; studied 
law with Davis & Devens, and at Cambridge Law School ; 
was admitted to the bar in 1850 ; became the law partner of 
Aiken & Davis. By good natural abilities, untiring indus- 
try, and exclusive attention to the study and practice of the 
law, at an early age he placed himself in the front ranks of 
the bar of the State. He is systematic and thorough in 
preparation ; eloquent and convincing with the jury ; clear, 
logical and winning with the court. As attorney general 
of the Commonwealth, he will not suffer in comparison with 
his distinguished predecessors. He proved fully equal to the 
delicate and responsible duties of an oflfice which had been 
filled by an Otis, a Sullivan, an Austin, a Clifford, and a 
Choate.* 

Henry L. Dawes was born in Cummington, in the old 
County of Hampshire ; graduated at Yale College in 1839 ; 
studied law in this town with Wells, Davis & Alvord ; was 
admitted to the bar in 1842 ; married in Ashfield, and set- 

* I take not so much credit, as pride, in the fact that Mr. Allen was a 
pupil of mine one term, the summer of 1838, in the Fellenberg Academy. 
And I will add, that I have often thought that Mr. Allen's father, Sylves- 
ter Allen ; his uncle, Franklin Ripley ; and Henry W. Clapp — three of 
the most upright, energetic, and successful business men who have lived 
in this county — under whose immediate influence and example Mr, Allen 
was reared, contributed quite as much to his success and eminence in 
life, as all his academical, collegiate and law teachers. 



32 

tied in North Adams. He was district attorney for the 
N. W. District, which brought him constantlj to our courts. 
He was a member of both branches of the Legislature, of 
the constitutional convention of 1853, and has just entered 
upon his ninth term in Congress. Few men have been able 
to unite, so successfully, law and politics ; and few have 
been more successful at the bar, as well as in political and 
public life. It was in Franklin County that he laid the 
foundations of his great success, and Franklin County takes 
a deep interest and just pride in every honorable step he may 
take, up the dizzy and dangerous heights, to the goal of his 
ambition. 

Charles Devens, Jr., was born in Charlestown in 
1820 ; graduated at Harvard in 1838 ; studied law at Cam- 
bridge Law School, and with Hubbard & Watts of Boston ; 
was admitted to the bar in 1841 ; settled in Northfield, in 
partnership with Wendell T. Davis of Greenfield ; removed 
to Greenfield in 1844, and became the law partner of Geo. 
T. & W. T. Davis ; was Senator from Fi'anklin County in 
1848 and 1849 ; was U. S. marshal from 1849 to 1853. 
In 1854 he resumed practice in Worcester, and alone, and 
in partnership with G. F. Hoar, remained till 1861. He 
early won success at the bar, and while in this county was 
intrusted with the management of the most important causes. 
At the Worcester bar he soon took rank anion 2: her ablest 
lawyers and advocates. At the breaking out of the rebellion, 
he was appointed by Gov. Andrew major of Third Battal- 
ion Rifles; in 1861 was appointed by Gov. Andrew col- 
onel of Fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteers. In 1862 he 
was appointed brigadier general of volunteers by the Pres- 
ident. In 1865 he was appointed brevet major general of 



33 



U. S. Volunteers by the President, "for gallantry and meri- 
torious services at taking of Richmond," at the personal 
request of Gen. U. S. Grant. In 1866 he resumed the 
practice of the law at Worcester, and in 1867 was appointed 
Judge of the Superior Court, as one of the colleagues of his 
Honor who presides over these deliberations. 

John Wells was born in Rowe, in this county ; gradu- 
ated at Williams College in 1838 ; was admitted to the bar in 
1841, and settled in Chicopee, but for many years was 
retained in important cases at our bar. We claim him 
to-day as a part of us. He was a modest, conscientious, ac- 
curate and thorough lawyer and pleasing advocate, and was 
an honor to the profession. He was appointed upon the su- 
preme bench in 1866, where he has already won a place 
among the first judicial minds of the Commonwealth. 

AxSEL Phelps, Jr., son of the late Hon. Ansel Phelps 
of this town, studied law with Wells, Alvord & Davis ; was 
admitted to the bar in 1840, and settled in Ware, and was 
often at our bar. He entered at once upon a successful 
practice, and gave promise of becoming eminent in his pro- 
fession. He left Ware to become the attorney of the 
Western railroad — a more lucrative position. He was 
afterwards mayor of Springfield. He was a man of great 
energy, executive ability and influence. But, like too many 
of our ambitious young men, he overtaxed his powers and 
died in the midst of his success and usefulness, at the early 
age of forty-five. 

George W. Horr, of Athol, was a native of New 
Salem, and descended from good stock. He studied law two 
years at Cambridge ; also with Davis & Allen, and with 
Maynard, Lincoln & Chatfield of New York city. He was 



34 



admitted to the bar in 1860, and to the United States court 
in 1870. He opened an office in New Salem, but soon re- 
moved to Athol, where he is now in good practice. He is 
also a very successful lecturer upon astronomy and other 
subjects, to the great acceptance of public schools, lyceums 
and other popular assemblies. 

RuFUS D. Chase, of Orange, graduated at Dartmouth 
College in 1845 ; studied law with E. D. Beach of Spring- 
field, Mass., and with Royal Tyler and Asa Keyes of 
Brattleboro, Vt. ; was admitted to the bar in 1849, and has 
practiced in Orange since. He is a very useful local coun- 
sellor and office lawyer, and is entitled to much credit in the 
adjusting and arrangement of most of his cases, thus saving 
his clients long, expensive and often useless litigation, re- 
minding us of the lawyefrs in the various towns forty years 
ago, of whom Judge Curtis speaks in such favorable terras. 

Henry Vose graduated at Harvard in 1839 ; acted for 
some time as private instructor in the family of a gentleman 
in Western New York ; studied law with Wells, Alvord 
& Davis in Greenfield, and with Chapman, Ashmun & Nor- 
ton in Springfield, where he was admitted to the bar and 
opened an office. He was a careful, thorough, conscientious 
lawyer, and highly esteemed as a public citizen. He mar- 
ried the daughter of Franklin Ripley of this town. In 1859 
he was appointed to a seat upon the bench of the Superior 
Court, which office he filled with much credit to himself and 
the Commonwealth until his death in 1869. 

James C. Davis, son of George T. Davis, was born and 
educated in Greenfield and at Cambridge, and we claim him 
as one of our gifted young members of the bar. He has 
long discharged the duties of assistant attorney general with 



35 

great fidelity and ability. Though young in years, he is 
already taking a high rank in his profession at the Suffolk 
bar. 

James S. Grennell, son of George Grennell, studied 
law with Grennell & Aiken, and at Cambridge. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1846, and opened an office in this town. 
He had a valuable office practice, and appeared in a large 
number of court cases. But he disliked the law, or rather 
he liked agriculture much better. He was soon appointed 
chief clerk of the department of agriculture at "Washing- 
ton, and since chief clerk of the patent office, which place 
he now fills with much credit. He is a most welcome visitor 
to all our people, especially to the farmers. As a practical 
as well as a scientific agriculturist, he has few equals in the 
country, and has done more to promote the cause of agricul- 
ture in this county than any other man. 

Haynes H. Chilson, of Northampton, was born in 
Buckland, in this county ; studied law in my office ; was 
admitted to the bar in 1847, and settled in Northampton. 
He married the daughter of Isaac C. Bates. He has been 
commissioner of insolvency, county commissioner, post- 
master at Northampton, assistant U. S. assessor, and for 
nearly twenty-five years, most of the time, an active and 
efficient member of the school committee of that town. The 
duties of these offices have for many years occupied most of 
his time. He has now resumed the practice of his pro- 
fession, and deserves, what I trust he may acquire, success. 
We claim him to-day as a successful and honored son of 
Franklin County. 

Charles Mattoon studied law with William G. Wood- 
ard at Northfield, and was admitted to the bar in 1839. He 



36 



practiced in Muscatine, Iowa, and in Northfield until 1853, 
when he settled in Greenfield, where he remained till his 
death in 1870, at the age of fifty-four years. He was Judge 
of Probate from 1858 to 1870, and for many years secretary 
of the Franklin County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. 
He was an assiduous worker in his oflSce, in politics, and in 
the church. But his fragile constitution at last gave way, 
and he left us with his life's work but just commenced. 

Horatio G. Parker, of Boston, graduated at Dart- 
mouth in 1844 ; studied law with his father in Keene, 
N. H. ; with William Curtis Noyes of New York city, and 
Henry M. Parker of Boston ; was admitted to the bar in 
New York in 1847 and in this State in 1848. He settled 
in Greenfield. He was Judge of Probate, and once repre- 
sented this town in the Legislature. He subsequently re- 
moved to Boston, and has since been a member of the Suffolk 
bar. He was employed to assist the commissioners in the 
revision of the statutes in 1860, and his services in that 
delicate and laborious work were of great value to the State. 
He is conscientious and honorable in his practice, and stands 
deservedly high in his profession, with a large, lucrative and 
increasing business. <# 

And what shall I more say ? for the time would fail me to 
speak of all the Gideons, and Baraks, and Sampsons ; the 
Jepthaes, and Davids, and Samuels of our bar, who 
have either already attained or given promise of a success in 
the profession equal to that which has been achieved by those 
to whom allusion has been made. In no profession are time's 
changes more marked and rapid than in ours. It seems but 
yesterday that brothers Lamb, Davis and Dewolf, Hop- 
kins, CoNANT and Field were mere boys — three of them 



37 



timid, bashful students under my poor teachings — all now 
among the leading members of this bar, each with a large 
and increasing practice, whilst others are following close 
upon their footsteps. 

We are always glad to welcome to our bar and share our 
practice with attorneys from other counties. George M. 
Stearns, of Chicopee, a native of this county, the acknowl- 
edged leader of the Hampden bar and the able district 
attorney of the S. W. District ; Edward Dickixsox and 
Ithamar F. Coxkey, of Amherst ; Charles Delano and 
Samuel T. Spaulding, of Xorthampton, the present distin- 
guished leaders of the Hampshire bar ; Charles Field and 
F. F. Fay, of Athol, often honor us with their presence and 
practice, and as often receive from us a most cordial greeting. 
Once or twice Peter C. Bacon and P. Emory Aldrich 
of Worcester, Richard H. Dana, Jr., Charles R. Train, 
and the late B. F. Hallett of Boston, and Charles Dav- 
enport of Brattleboro, Yt., a native of this county, have 
conducted important cases at this bar ; and four or five times 
the late Rufus Choate was employed in cases of great im- 
portance at this bar, and on each occasion it was a rare treat 
for a crowded house, of both sexes, who gathered to witness 
the tactics, and listen to the eloquence of this great master 
of the principles and arts of our profession. 

But I must not foro-et on this occasion Henry Chapman 
and Samuel H. Reed — one long the faithful clerk of our 
courts, the other the able and efficient sheriff of the county — 
both smitten with infirmity : one deprived of reason, the 
other of sight. They are both entitled this day to kind and 
honorable mention, as well as the warmest gratitude and 
sympathy of that public in whose service they lost, one of 



38 

thera much, the other all, that makes life desirable. May 
God — who " tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," who gave 
sight to the blind, and caused the man with disordered intel- 
lect " to stand clothed , and in his right mind " — if for 
inscrutable reasons He cannot restore the priceless treasure 
each has lost, deal gently and kindly with the closing, years 
of these our old associates, brothers and friends. 

We miss from his accustomed place to-day our faithful, 
talented clerk of the courts, Edward E. Lyman. Smitten 
with disease, he has passed days, weeks and months, vibrat- 
ing in painful suspense between life and death. We are 
glad to know that his condition is improving, and we trust 
and pray that he may soon be restored to the office he so 
ably filled, and to the professional, social, and religious cir- 
cles in which he is so often and so sadly missed. 

In this connection, it is no less a pleasure than a duty to 
pay my tribute of respect to the names of David Willard 
and Noah S. Wells, whose united services, as assistants in 
the office of clerk of the courts, cover the largest portion of 
both these periods. And if they have not enjoyed the full 
honor and emoluments of the office, they have, by fidelity to 
the trust reposed in them," won the more enviable distinction 
of the unanimous verdict of the people, " Well done, good 
and faithful servants." 

At this family gathering of the bar, on this pleasant occa- 
sion, so well calculated to give our thoughts a bright and 
cheerful hue, how sadly memory reverts to the names of two 
of our youngest and most promising members — Col. Geo. 
D. Wells and Capt. George W. Bartlett. Both were 
the law partners of D. W. Alvord, himself among the early 
mourned and missed ; both won distinction in the war, and 



39 

both gave promise of a long and successful career. But the 
ways of Providence are inscrutable to mortal eyes, and just 
as little do we know who of us will next be called to follow 
these youthful champions of our bar, so gifted with genius, 
hope and promise. How forcibly are we all reminded of the 
impressive words of Edmund Burke : 

" What shadovvs we are, and what sliadows we pursue."* 

And now we enter upon the third period of our judicial 
history, with this new and attractive Court House — this 
splendid ediiSce just completed. And although I was one of 
many who were in favor of a new structure throughout, yet 
we are most happily disappointed in the amount and desira- 
bleness of the accommodations obtained, in proportion to the 
money expended. And I believe I express the general opin- 
ion of the bar, and the county, and district officers, when I 
say that, in its general architecture, within and without, — in 
the size, arrangement, convenience and beauty of the various 
rooms and their appointments, it is entirely satisfactory. 

This large, well-proportioned, commodious court and 
audience room, with its high and hard-finished walls, its 
elegant windows, its thorough ventilation, its ample and con- 
venient aiTangements for the judges, the bar, the jurors, the 
witnesses, the officers of the court, and the spectators, — fur- 
nished throughout with most substantial and elegant taste, 
and crowned with a most beautiful, modern and useful jjas 



*A list of the county and district officers from the organization of the 
county, in 1811, to the present time, with the dates of the commencement 
of their terms of office ; also a list of all the lawyers who, during the 
same period, have been members of the Franklin County bar, with the 
dates of their admission to the bar, so far as I have been able to ascertain, 
will be found in an Appendix to this Address. 



40 

light reflector and ventilator, — certainly constitutes one of 
the most pleasant, agreeable, and convenient court rooms in 
the State, and is, and ever will be, the just pride and admi- 
ration of us all. 

I never could understand why court houses and churches 
should be so constructed as to subject men, women and chil- 
dren, who are in the violation of no law, either of God or 
man, to the greatest possible amount of suffering, in body and 
mind, during the time they are called upon to occupy these 
public places. I have sat for hours in public rooms, filled 
with people, containing not one particle of air fit to breathe, 
where life was sustained for the time being, for the most 
part, by the use of fans and cologne ; where the drowsiness 
of the audience has been attributed to the dullness of the 
speaker, or the want of appreciation, or lack of divine grace 
in the heart? of the hearers. Architecture, till within a 
short period, has been one of the most stupid and criminal 
arts of our time. How many cheeks have been blanched, 
and constitutions undermined, throuoh its io^norance and 
criminality ! Herod's slaughter of the innocents was scarcely 
more wicked than the slower torture to which thousands of 
children are subjected to-day in the school-rooms of our land. 
Our rail road depots, churches, public halls, court houses, 
and school-rooms have been till lately, and some of them 
are still, destitute of many of those appliances, conveniences 
and appointments, so necessary to the health and comfort of 
their occupants. 

This new Court House, in these respects of which I am 
speaking, and I may say in all its interior arrangements, 
is a model of its kind. The spacious, pleasant, well arranged 
and thoroughly furnished rooms for the grand and traverse 



41 

jurors; the tasteful, convenient, well arranged and well fur- 
nished rooms for the court, the law library, and for consult- 
ation ; and especially the large, convenient, and fire proof 
rooms below, for the county offices ; and the wide, pleasant, 
airy corridors, floored with w^hite and colored slate, leading to 
all parts of the building directly, or by stairways remarkable 
for convenience and architectural beauty, — all heated by 
steam, lighted with gas, supplied with an abundance of the 
Leyden Glen water, thoroughly ventilated, and furnished 
with all the apparatus and appliances of modern taste and 
improvement, in connection with this audience room, to 
which I have already referred, — constitute a Court House 
which reflects much credit upon the architect, Joseph R. 
Richards, of Boston ; the contractors, Timothy E. Stuart, 
mason, Asa Lewis, carpenter, both of Boston ; and the 
county commissioners. 

And in behalf of the court, the members of the bar, and 
the county and district officers, I take the liberty to express 
our profound thanks and obligations to the county commis- 
sioners, and through them to the people of Franklin County, 
for their wise liberality in erecting a Court House which is 
not only an honor to the county, but which will contribute 
80 much in all future time to the convenience, comfort and 
health of its occupants, and at the same time facilitate the 
administration of justice. 

And now, in conclusion, let me ask to what end shall we 
dedicate this new and splendid structure — this Temple of 
Justice? For what purpose are courts established, judges 
appointed, and jurors empanneled? It is, in the language of 
our constitution, "to secure the right of every individual to 
be protected in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, property. 



42 



and character." It is "that there may be an impartial in- 
terpretation of the laws, and administration of justice." It 
is to secure " the right of every citizen to be tried by judges 
as free, impartial and independent as the lot of humanity will 
admit." It is that ''every citizen of the commonwealth may 
find a certain remedy, by having recourse to the laws for all 
injuries or wrongs which he may receive in his person, prop- 
erty, or character " ; that he may " obtain right and justice 
freely, and without being obliged to purchase it — completely, 
and without any denial — promptly, and without delay, con- 
formably to the laws." 

But these great and noble ends and objects can only be 
secured, in the language of that same instrument, by " a 
frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of the 
constitution, and a constant adherance to those of piety, 
justice, moderation, temperance, industry and frugality, as 
absolutely necessary to preserve the advantages of liberty, and 
to maintain a free government." And it is only by a rigid 
adhesion to and practice of these fundamental principles, 
that we can maintain the purity, dignity and honor of our 
profession, preserve in even poise the scales of justice, and 
fulfill the reasonable expectations of those who have given us 
this beautiful temple of justice which we now dedicate. 
While fraud, bribery and corruption are coming in like a 
flood, in the high places of the land, threatening to sweep 
away the very foundations of our government ; while in 
some States even the judiciary has yielded to the^dark and 
corrupting influences, which are the misfortun^of our times, 
thank God no suspicion even of corruption or malfeasance 
stains the ermine of a Massachusetts judge, or impedes the 
impartial administration of Massachusetts laws. 



43 

And let us ever bear in mind, as we occupy these earthly 
courts, that these tribunals of justice are not merely theatres 
on which to display forensic ability, and achieve wealth, dis- 
tinction and fame, but are one of the important instrument- 
alities employed by God for the execution of his plans and 
laws, which pervade the whole universe. For the saying 
of Richard Hooker, uttered three centuries ago, is as true 
to-day as it was then, and as it ever will be : " Of law there 
can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is the bosom 
of God, her voice the harmony of the world ; all things in 
heaven and earth do her homage, tljp very least as feeling her 
care, and the greatest as not exempted from her power." 



Note. — I desire to express my thanks to Dr. Noah S. Wells, 
the clerk pro. tern, of our courts, and especially to Hon. Oliver 
Warner, Secretary of State, for much valuable assistance in the 
preparation of this address. I am also indebted to David Wil- 
lard's valuable History of Greenfield for important statistics rela- 
tive to some of the earlier members of our bar. 



APPENDIX. 



1811. 
Oct. 22. 

1814. 
Oct. 14. 

1821. 
July 10. 

1849. 
June 20. 

1853. 
March 9. 

1854. 
Jan. 25. 

1858. 
May 13. 

1870. 
Sept. 30. 



1811. 
Oct. 22. 

1812. 
Nov. 25. 

1841. 
Jan. 28. 

1849. 
July 3. 

1851. 
April 16, 

1853. 
June 7. 

1856. 
Nov. 4. 



FRi^NKLIN COUNTY 

JUDGES OF PROBATE. 

Solomon Smead, Greenfield. 
Jonathan Leavitt, " 

Richard E. Newcomb, " 
George Grennell, 
Horatio G. Parker, 
Franklin Ripley, 
Charles Mattoon, 
Chester C. Conant, " 

BEGISTERS OF PROBATE. 

Isaac B. Barber, Coleraine. 
Elijah Alvord, 2d, Greenfield. 
George Grennell, Jr., " 
Wendell T. Davis, " 

Samuel 0. Lamb, '• 

Charles Mattoon, " 

Charles Mattoon, 



" Resigned Feb. 24, 1853. 
u Resigned. 

« Died Aug. 12, 1870. 



Elected. 



46 



REGISTERS OF PROBATE AND IKSOLVENCY. 

1858. 
Nov. 2. Chas. J. J. Ingersoll, Greenfield. Elected. 

1863. 
Nov. 3. Chester C. Coaant, " " 

1868. 
Nov. 3. Chester C. Conaut, '' " 

1870. 
Nov. 8. Francis M. Thompson, " " 

Franklin County, 

DISTRICT OR COUNTY ATTORNEYS. 

1811. 
Oct. 22. Elihu Lyman, Jr., Greenfield, County Attorney. 
Nov. 22. John Nevers, Northfield. 

1812. 
Oct. 26. Samuel C. Allen, New Salem, " " 

1821. 
June 15. George Grennell, Jr., Greenfield, " " 

1829. 
Oct. 19. Richard E. Nevvcomb, " " " 

1837. 
Sept. 5. Daniel Wells, Greenfield, A.ttorney for "Western District 

for five years. 

1842. 
Sept. 16. Daniel Wells, " " " " ," 

1844. 
Oct. 1. William Porter, Jr., Lee, vice Wells appointed Chief 
Justice Common Pleas Court. 

1849. 
Nov. 23. William Porter, Jr., Lee. 

1851. 
May 23. Increase Sumner, Great Barrington. 

1853. 
Mar. 30. William G. Bates, Westfield, vice Sumner. 

1854. 
Jan. 4. Henry L. Dawes, Adams, vice Bates. 

1855. 
May 9. Ithamar F. Conkey, Amherst, N. W. District. 

1856. 
Nov. 4. Elected : Daniel W. Alvord, Greenfield, N. W. District. 

1859. 
Nov. 4. " « " « 

1862. 
Nov. Samuel T. Spauldiag, Northampton, " " 



47 



1865. 
Nov. 

1868. 
Nov. 

1871. 
Nov. 



1811. 
Oct. 22. 

Nov. 22. 

1814. 
June 20. 

1831. 
May 26. 

1836. 
May 19. 

1841. 
Mar. 15. 

1846. 
May 15. 

1847. 
April 21. 

1851. 
May 26. 

1853. 
Mar. 9. 

1855. 
Dec. 3. 

1856. 
Nov. 4. 

1859. 
Nov. 2. 

1862. 
Nov. 4. 

1865. 
Nov. 7. 

1808. 
Nov 3. 

1871. 
Nov. 7. 



Samuel T. Spaulding, Northampton, N. W. District. 

William S. B. Hopkins, Greenfield, " " 

Franklin County. 

SHERIFFS. 

John Nevers, Northfield. 
Elihu Lyman, Jr., Greenfield. 

Epaphras Hoyt, Deerfield. 

John Nevers, Northfield. 

John Nevers, Northfield, " Sheriff for 5 yrs fr. May 23." 



u u 



(( u 



U (( (( U 



C( u 



Samuel H. Reed, Rowe. Five years from April 27. 

Jas. S. Whitney, Conway. 
Samuel H. Reed, Greenfield. 
Charles Pomeroy, Northfield. 
Elected : Samuel H. Reed, Greenfield. 

" " " " " Re-elected. 



U (( (( 



Solomon C. Wells, 



Epaphras Hoyt held the office from 1814 to 1831, 17 years; 
John Nevers held it from 1831 to 1847, 16 years; Samuel H. 
Reed held it from 1847 to 1851, from 1853 to 1855, and from 
1856 to 1868— in all nearly 19 years. 



48 
Franklin County. 

CLERKS OF THE COUKTS. 

1811. Rodolphus Dickinson of Deerfield. 

1820. Elijah Alvord of Greenfield. 

1840. Henry Chapman of 

1852. George Grennell of 

1856. George Grennell of 

1861. George Grennell of 
1866. Edward E. Lyman of 

1871. Edward E. Lyman of 

COUNTY TREA.SCRERS. 

1811. Elijah Alvord, 2d, of Greenfield. 

1812. Epaphras Hoyt of Deerfield. 
1815. Hooker Leavitt of Greenfield. 
1842. Almon Brainard of " 
1856. Lewis Merriam of " 

1862. Daniel H. Newton of " 
1865. Bela Kellogg of " 

REGISTERS OF DEEDS. 

1811. Epaphras Hoyt of Deerfield. 

1815. Hooker Leavitt of Greenfield. 

1842. Almon Brainard of " 

1856. Humphrey Stevens of " 

1872. Edward Benton of " 

MESSENGERS OF THE COURT. 

Lucius Dickinson of Greenfield. 
John Pinks of " 

Thomas Rockwood of " 
Dexter Marsh of " 

Jonathan M. Mann of " 



Elected. 



49 



The following is a list of lawyers who have been members of 
the Franklin County Bar since its incorporation in 1811, with the 
dates of their admission to the Bar, so far as known : 



RESIDENTS OF GREENFIELD. 



William Coleman 
Jonathan Leavitt. 
Richard E. Newcomb 
Elijah Alvord. 
Elihu Lyman. 
George Grennell. 
Hooker Leavitt. 
Franklin Ripley. 
David Willard. 
David Brigham. 
Daniel Wells. 
Horatio G. Newcomb 
Samuel Wells. 
Henry Chapman. 
Almon Brainard. 
James C. Alvord. 
George T. Davis. 
David Aiken. 
Charles Mattoon. 
Daniel W. Alvord. 
Wendell T. Davis. 
Charles Devens, Jr. 
Whiting Griswold, 
Franklin Ripley, Jr 
James S. Grennell. 
Horatio G. Parker. 
George D. Wells. 
Charles Allen. 
Samuel O. Lamb. 
Edward F. Raymond 
W. S. B, Hopkins. 
George W. Bartlett. 
Chester C. Conant. 
James C. Davis. 



Admitte*^ tn tTip Tint 


in . 




u 


u 


(( 


about 


1789. 


b. " 


a 


C( 


in 


1796. 


u 


u 


C( 


i( 


1802. 


(( 


u 


(( 


(( 


1806. 


u 


(( 


(( 


(( 


1811. 


i( 


(t 


u 


u 


1811. 


(( 


a 


a 


u 


1812. 


l( 


(( 


u 


(i 


1812. 


(i 


u 


t( 


u 


. 


(( 


n 


u 


u 


1813. 


b. " 


a 


(( 


ii 


1813. 


(( 


a 


u 


u 


1816. 


it 


a 


(( 


(( 


1826. 


i( 


a 


a 


u 


1829. 


u 


u 


u 


u 


1830. 


u 


u 


u 


u 


1832. 


(( 


u 


u 


(( 


1833. 


l( 


u 


(( 


a 


1839. 


u 


u 


u 


(( 


1841. 


a 


u 


u 


u 


1841. 


li 


u 


a 


(( 


1841. 


u 


u 


u 


u 


1842. 


u 


u 


u 


(( 


1845. 


u 


a 


u 


u 


1846. 


u 


u 


u 


(( 


1847. 


C( 


(( 


u 


u 


1849. 


(( 


(( 


u 


C( 


1850. 


u 


u 


a 


u 


1851. 


I. " 


u 


(( 


f( 


1854. 


a 


u 


(( 


(( 


1858. 


u 


(( 


u 


u 


1859. 


(( 


i( 


u 


u 


1859. 


(( 


(( 


(( 


u 


1861. 



50 



Edward E. Lyman. Admitted to the Bar ia 
Austin Dewolf. " " " " 

Gorham D. Williams. " " " " 

William H. Gile. " " " " 

George L. Barton. " " " " 



1861. 
1863. 
1868. 
1869. 
1871. 



DEERFIELD. 



Pliny Arms. Admit 

Rodolphus Dickinson. " 
Jonathan A. Saxton. " 
Aaron Arms. " 

Elijah Williams. " 



Samuel C. Allen. Admitted to the B 
John Nevers. " 

John Barrett. " 

Benjamin R. Curtis. " 
William G. Woodard. " 
Solomon Vose. " 



to the Bar about 


1805. 


" " in 


1808. 


u a u 


1817. 


" " about 


1817. 


lORTHFIELD. 


1825. 



about 


1800 


(( 


1808 


u 


1808 


ia 


1832 


about 


1833 


u 





CIIARLEMONT. 



Sylvester Maxwell. Admitted to the Bar about 
Joseph P. Allen. " " " " 

Emory Washburn. " " " " 

Edwin H. Porter. " " " " 



1804. 
1817. 
1821. 
1842. 



ASHFIELD. 



Elijah Paine. Admitted to the Bar about 



1793. 



CONWAY. 



William Billings. 
Charles Baker. 
Albert C. Clark. 
John Newton. 



Admitted to the Bar about 



1812. 
1825. 
1847. 
1853. 



51 



SUNDERLAND. 



Horace W. Taft. Admitted to the Bar about. , . 1810. 
Henrj Barnard. " " " « , . . 



MONTAGUE. 



Jonathan Hartwell. Admitted to the Bar about . . 1812. 

Timothy M. Dewey. " " " in . . 1855. 

ORANGE. 

Stephen Emory. Admitted to the Bar about . , 1811. 

Eufus D. Chase. " " "in . . 1849. 

GILL. 

Benjamin Brainard. Admitted to the Bar about . . 1815. 

WHATELT. 

Justin W. Clark. Admitted to the Bar about , . 1825. 

COLERAINE. 

Isaac B. Barber. Admitted to the Bar about . . 1808. 

John Drury. " " '« " . , 1811. 

William Lanfair. " " " in . . 1845. 

SHELBURNE. 

Arthur Maxwell. Admitted to the Bar in . , 1849. 

Samuel T. Field. " " '< " . . 1852. 

Henry M. Puffer. " " " " . . 1867. 

SHUTESBURT. 

William Ward. Admitted to the Bar about . . , 



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